Hello, and a small question

[Martin]

Hello all, it's good to be here
It is only in the last year of so I have had a garden, so I'm very much the novice. The first year was a bit of a disaster with poor soil, weeds and slugs doing there best to ruin things. However with a lot of work and tons of compost this summer has been quite productive
I have a leylandia hedge which for now I've decided to keep. Instead, I've decided to remove some of the lawn in front of it and create a border. I've ordered the compost, and have done my research when it comes to plants, it's just the making of the border itself where I have a question.
The border is going to rise gently up to the hedge. Would it be OK to place the old turf I remove, upside down underneath my border to give me the slope I want? Or would it be better to stack the old turf in a corner and let it decompose that way?
Obviously I would be burying the old turf under compost and top soil. My worry is that the decompostion or the heat will kill or stunt the the new plants.
Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[evelynmcgregor]

I would advise that you not use the old turf to build up your gentle slope. I have done that in the past and had the turf resprout and then it is a devil to get rid of. As for plants for that area,,, try something that spreads to keep you soil from washing away,,,ajuga would be nice since it is low growing and actually puts up a lovely sprout with purple flowers on it. Plus, if you put in bulbs for spring, the ajuga will not choke them out. If you want something annual, moss rose are very pretty. They have small fleshy leaves that are sort of a grayish green in color and come in a wide variety of flower colors.

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forum @Martin!

I agree with Evelyn, it's best not to use the old turf. What are you planning on planting in the border?

 

[firelily99]

As everyone has mentioned it is not a good idea to reuse the turf for you edges. The wonderful thing about gardening that usually there lots of options available and evelynmcgregor suggested some of them.

 

[gata montes]

Hi Martin - although I too would agree that it would be not be good idea to use the discarded turf ,

I would however also just add - that as you are keeping your Leylandii hedge and planning to have a border in front of it - that apart from having to be careful with what you choose to plant in front of it because of the shade aspect - you will also need to consider leaving plenty of room and easy access to the hedge - especially as Leylandii can grow at a truly astronomical rate and normally need quite heavy pruning at least three times during the growing season - otherwise they can get totally out of control.

 

[Martin]

Hi
Many thanks for all your replies.
I reckon I should have cut down the leylandia, but it is made up of 15 individual plants all with a root ball to dig up - I decided it was eaiser to live with it...
Shade isn't really that much of a problem. My garden faces south and the hedge runs from North to South so it is only really one side that is shaded.
I had half a metre chopped off the hedge a few months ago making a lot easier to trim, and there is just enough room to move in behind the border to cut it further.

To tell you what I've done....
Firstly it was an old hedge with a good foot or so gap underneath it, where nothing ever grew anyway.. So, yesterday when the 300kg of compost arrived I removed all the turf necessary to create my border (4 hours of hard toil! )
The turf I then stacked, roots up, just underneath the hedge where nothing grew anyway. I then added the 300kg of compost to the border creating a slope up towards the hedge. I left a narrow path behind it for cutting. The turf is almost forming a back drop to the border, and is not a part of it as such. Time will tell if that was a good idea or not.

As for plants, I intend to order them in the next few days. They are mainly shrubs and a few perennials,
Any suggestions or warnings about the plants would be good. Here's the list:

Crocosmia Emily McKenzie
Leucothoe Axillaris Curly Red
Euphorbia Ascot rainbow
Sedum Hybrid Xenox
Ceanothus Victoria
Azalea Japonica Aghadir

Obviously I'll buy more of some than others... I've tried to pick plants that are attractive to bees and are colourful most of the year.. I have a bumble bee's nest under my compost heap, so hopefully they are in for a treat.

Btw, I live in Scotland - it's not famous for its glorious weather, so any suggestions can't be too tropical

 

[Martin]

oops, thats mean't to be 300 litres of compost. It just felt like 300 KG

 

[Becky]

I like your plant choices, it will be a beautiful burst of colour against the hedge I'd love to see some photos of how it's progressing if you get the chance.

Hehe I laughed a little bit at the thought of a 'tropical Scotland'